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Sunday, February 3, 2013

DON'T BE ANXIOUS TO BE REJECTED by C. Hope Clark

I received my weekly newsletter today from Funds for Writers written and compiled by C.Hope Clark and this piece captured my attention and I thought off sharing it today.

This is so profound for me as an author. A lesson learned.

To learn more and subscribe to her news letter you can follow the link.

DON'T BE ANXIOUS TO BE REJECTED

I get these whims to cook up something remarkably different.Like a pot roast that adds cola, or a Christmas cookie withreal lavender flowers in the icing. I even tried spaghetticooked in a Bundt pan, with the sauce afterwards filling thehole and drizzled all over the top. It looked weird and tastedokay, but the jokes about it continued from my sister for years.

Truth is, I'm a darn good cook now. My sister hasn't tasted muchof my cooking in a decade or two, but my family and neighborshave come to appreciate what my kitchen produces, especiallysince much of it comes fresh from a garden, the chicken coop,and years of trial and error.

One thing I have learned, however, is that I don't want to tryout a new recipe for a special event (or test it on my sister).I could be remembered for the potential fiasco instead of myprowess.

The same goes for releasing your writing to the cold, cruelworld. In our excitement to become published and start thatclip portfolio of our accomplishments, we forget what canhappen if the release crashes and burns. I baked that spaghettidish probably thirty years ago, but my sister reminded me ofit just last week. I also self-published a plain, basic littlebook in 2001 that I wish I never had. In spite of my attemptsto forget those mistakes, they continue to pop up from timeto time.

All too often we are remembered for our mistakes instead of ouraccomplishments. It's a nasty reality, but oh so true.

A friend in one of my writing groups just sent her last chapterthrough the group for critique. It took her months to submit, receivefeedback, and edit. I watched her work just blossom over that timeperiod as she found her footing and her voice. After the last chapter,I asked her if she was ready to send it through the group again.

The disappointment rang clear even through the email. She'd hopedto let a couple of beta readers go through the book then startcontacting agents. I suggested she think twice about that choice.In sending the book back through for critique again, not onlywould the other writers look at it with a harsher eye in seekingmore advanced ways to improve the work, but she would in theprocess grow phenomenally in her talent. Instead of analyzingbasic storytelling, she and others could now study more intricaciesof dialogue, voice, flow and syntax.

She was anxious to get published, and my response was this:Don't be anxious to be rejected.

She told me that sentence stopped her in her tracks. In queryingtoo soon, she was indeed rushing into rejection. She was runninginto making a bad first impression on people she greatly neededto impress. She was trying a new recipe in front of very importantpeople, hoping they would like it . . . instead of practicing andrewriting long enough to know the recipe is a good one.

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